Inside Automotive (May 14th, 2018)

1. Tesla’s senior VP of engineering Doug Field is “taking time off” from the company. Earlier this month, it was rumored that Field was exiting the automaker, at least temporarily. A Tesla spokesperson told CNBC, “Doug is just taking some time off to recharge and spend time with his family. He has not left Tesla.” Field was previously a VP of hardware engineering at Apple and joined Tesla in 2013. Field was responsible for development of new vehicles at Tesla, such as the Model 3. Last month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk assumed responsibilities on Model 3 development from Field. — CNBC

2. A former Tesla executive is joining Waymo. Matt Schwall previously served as Tesla's director of field performance engineering. In his role, Schwall would deal directly with federal safety regulators. Now, Schwall will be joining Alphabet’s self-driving car division as a part of its safety team. Waymo didn't specify his role within the team, but a person close to the situation says Schwall will deal with a variety of self-driving safety issues. — CNN

3. A Tesla vehicle equipped with Autopilot slammed into a truck stopped at a red light. This happened in South Jordan, Utah, which is a suburb about 20 miles south of Salt Lake City. The sedan rear-ended a fire department mechanic truck at 60 mph without braking. It is not known if the Autopilot feature was activated. The Tesla driver experienced a broken ankle and there is no indication the Tesla's driver was under the influence of any substance. Tesla did not respond to comment. This comes as the NTSB is probing another Tesla accident that occurred in Florida last week. — USA TODAY

4. President Trump wants to negotiate with California on car emissions standards. Last week, Trump directed EPA administrator Scott Pruitt and Transportation secretary Elaine Chao to negotiate with the state over a proposed federal rollback of fuel economy and tailpipe emissions standards. California has vowed to disregard any federal rollbacks and stick to its own emissions standards, which could potentially spark a court battle. California and other states have the authority to write its own air pollution rules under the Clean Air Act. — NYT

5. Ford turned down a consulting pitch from President Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen. Cohen reached out to Ford in January 2017 to offer “consulting services.” Ford rejected Cohen’s offer, but the pitch has come to the attention of special counsel Robert Mueller, who uncovered the details during his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. This comes as AT&T, Novartis, Korea Aerospace Industries and Columbus Nova were revealed to have worked with Cohen on consulting. — VOX

6. An analysis on how much Americans spend on ride-hailing has been released. Financial assistant app Empower looked at the Uber and Lyft transactions from 50,000 of its users in 32 major cities. Residents of San Francisco spent the most across the 32 cities, according to the data, with an average of $110 per month being spent on Uber and $89 spent on Lyft. Boston residents spent an average of $95 a month on Uber and $55 per month on Lyft. New Yorkers spent an average of $84 per month on Uber and $54 on Lyft. — CNBC

7. Didi Chuxing will begin driverless car tests in California. The Chinese ride-hailing giant is now the 53rd company to receive a permit to test self-driving cars in the state. Didi declined to comment further on its plans for the U.S. market. — FT

8. Mobileye’s self-driving cars are coming to California. Mobileye was acquired by Intel last year in a deal worth $15 billion. Now, the company’s test vehicles will be hitting the streets. — THE REGISTER

9. Tesla’s Supercharger network is growing at a record pace. The automaker started the year with 1,124 stations globally and it has already added 121 new stations in the first 4 months of the year, that’s close to one new station per day. — ELECTREK

10. GM’s self-driving tests in New York have been stalled. Last October, the automaker announced it was applying for a permit to test autonomous cars in the state. However, the company’s permit has yet to be approved. — JALOPNIK

5. Ford turned down a consulting pitch from President Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen. Cohen reached out to Ford in January 2017 to offer “consulting services.” Ford rejected Cohen’s offer, but the pitch has come to the attention of special counsel Robert Mueller, who uncovered the details during his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. This comes as AT&T, Novartis, Korea Aerospace Industries and Columbus Nova were revealed to have worked with Cohen on consulting. — VOX

Inside Automotive

Electric vehicles, self-driving automobiles, smart cars and the world of 21st century transportation